(copyright)Copyright. 2000. Melvin C. Eiland. All of the material in this patent application is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and of other countries. As of the first effective filing date of the present application, this material is protected as unpublished material.
However, permission to copy this material is hereby granted to the extent that the owner of the copyright rights has no objection to he facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention generally relates to the field of farm equipment and processes used to land and haul bails of hay and particularly relates to loading and hauling systems and processes comprised of loading apparatus and a trailer.
The loading and hauling of bails of hay can be improved in a number of ways. Once bails of hay are created, they are generally left in the field until additional equipment can be used to load and move them as they are quite heavy and difficult to load and move. Traditional techniques of gathering and hauling these bails of hay require the use of two (2) pieces of equipmentxe2x80x94(i) a truck or trailer; and (ii) a crane of some sort to pick up and move the bails of hay to a truck or trailer, which necessitate more than one operator to load and unload the bails of hay. This is expensive and troublesome. The inventor has designed an earlier piece of equipment described and patented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,021, which is herein incorporated by reference.
Preferred embodiments of the trailer load and transport at least one bail of hay and are comprised of a goose neck assembly and a flat bed trailer. The goose neck assembly is attachable to a towing vehicle, such as a pick-up truck. The trailer is attached to the goose neck assembly and able to pivot about at least one axle, so that one portion of the flat bed trailer can be moved preferably from behind the towing vehicle to the passenger side (right) of the towing vehicle, which is preferred, or from behind the towing vehicle to the driver side (left) of the towing vehicle (i.e., positions parallel to the towing vehicle), which thereby enables the loading of a bail of hay on the front portion of the trailer in plain view of the operator of the towing vehicle. Once the bail(s) of hay are loaded on a first portion of the flat bed trailer, a motorized transport system, having at least two conveyor chains attached together by at least one bar to grip and secure the bail(s) of hay, transports the bail(s) of hay from the first portion of the flat bed trailer to a second portion of the flat bed trailer (i.e., from the front of the flat bed trailer to the back of the flat bed trailer). A motor can be used to automatically raise and/or lower a forked or loading assembly, which is preferably comprised of at least one prong. The prong(s) are preferably bent at a 90 degree angle and pivot from an up position to a down position around a prong axle attached to and located at the first position (the front portion) of the flat bed trailer. The prong axle is preferably oriented perpendicular to the direction of movement of the pick-up and trailer, as the prong axle traverses the trailer. The flat bed trailer also preferably has a first pair of wheels and a second pair of wheels joined by respective axles with at least one wheel on each side of the flat bed trailer. The flat bed trailer is preferably kept level. The flat bed also has a support wheel positioned between one wheel on one side of the flat bed trailer and the first position, preferably offset from the axle.
Preferred embodiments provide a number of advantages, important functions and key features. In particular, preferred embodiments are self-loading and unloading and, thus, only require one operator. Preferred embodiments are also able to haul five (5) or six (6) bails of hay at one time. Preferred embodiments are also able to load from the front of the trailer, as opposed to the side or rear of the trailer, which, among other things, makes it easier for the operator to control. Other advantages of the invention and/or inventions described herein will be explained in greater detail below.